CINCINNATI — While Jameson Taillon was squeezing putty and throwing bullpens as part of his recovery from Tommy John surgery nearly four years ago, Manny Machado and Bryce Harper — two players drafted with him in the first round — were already labeled as generational talents.
Yet Taillon, 23 at the time, never doubted his talent. Not through the Tommy John. Not through a testicular cancer diagnosis. Not through those long days of recovery at Pirate City.
This season, one he capped Saturday with seven strikeouts in a 3-0 loss to the Reds at Great American Ball Park, saw Taillon finish with 32 starts, the final 22 of those ceding three or fewer earned runs -- one of two starters in the majors to accomplish that this season, the first for the Pirates since Bob Friend in 1963 -- a 3.20 ERA that ranks ninth among qualified National League starters, and a team-high 179 strikeouts.
He led a staff that is now the foundation of the Pirates.
"Man, it’s been a crazy journey," Taillon beamed after exhaling. "To be able to look back and have a year like this, I think this will be a big one to springboard me going forward. That’s part of the reason why I wanted to make this start so bad. I wanted to be able to have that prideful feeling of making every start for this team and being a guy that our position players can go look at the lineup card and knowing it’s supposed to be my day, [that they'll be] seeing my name in there every single time."
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